Grapple.



, UNITED STATES.

I TONY ALEXANDER, or BROOKHAVEN, MISSISSIPPI, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-.-

HAD? TO cannon ALEXANDER,

Patented April 26, 1904.

OF NEIV ORLEANS, LOUISIANA.

GRAPPLE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 758,199, dated April 26, 1904. I

Application filed August 3, 1903. Serial ITO-167,996. (No model),

To all whom it away concern.-

Be it known that I, TONY ALEXANDER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Brookpurposes.

haven, in the county of Lincoln and State of Mississippi, have made certain new and useful Improvements in Grapples, of which the following is a specification.

It is the object of my invention to provide an improved grapple of that class which is adapted for use in hauling logs, also supporting and carrying the same suspended from a carlriage traveling upon an overhead cable or ran The invention consists in pivoting the hooks of the grapple in recesses'in the short levers to which the grapple-suspending ring is attached in the usual way and in providing a spring-detent, for engaging the bent shanks of said hooks to hold the latter in normal position facing inward or toward each other; also, in providing the hooks with lateral projections that constitute handles for use in manipulating the hooks to duly engage them with or disengage them from a log,as will be hereinafter more fully described.

The several novel features are hereinafter described with due detail and with reference to the accompanying drawings, in Which.

Figure 1 is a face view of my improved grapple. Fig. 2 is aside or edge View of the same. Fig. 3 is an enlarged section on the line 3 3 of Fig. 2. Fig. 4 is a cross-section on the line 4 4: of Fig. 3.

The books 1 of the grapple are provided wit points or teeth 2 in the usualway. Their shanks 3 are bent outward at a right angle and fitted loosely in notches or recesses 4, formed in the short levers or jaws 5. The latter are pivoted together by means of a bolt 6 in the usual way and are also provided with a link or ring attachment 7 for suspension Pivot -'pins 8 (see Fig. 3) pass through the bent shanks 3 of the hooks and through the projecting portions 5 of the jaws 5. A spring-detent consisting of a conical plug or pin 9 is arranged in a. recess in each of the jaws or levers 5 in rear of the pivots 8. A spiral spring 10 is arranged in rear of each detent. The conical outer end of the latter is adapted to enter a corresponding recess in the outer side of the bent portions 3 of the hooks,

as shownin Figs. 3 and a. Thus when the tie-- rangement of the plug 10 that upon applying due leverage or lateral pressure to the'hooks 1 they maybe turned laterally, "as indicated by dotted lines, Fig. 1, sincethe-pressure of the spring 10 will be overcome, thus allowing the detent to slide back into the recess in the.

jaw. X I

Each of the hooks 1 is provided with a later ally projecting prong 11, (see'Fig. 1,) the same being located about one-third of the distance from the tooth 2 to the shank 3. These projections subserve two,purposes-namely, as

handholds for the operator while opening and closing the hooks to apply them to a log or other timber, also as lever-arms or contactpieces. for use in disengaging the teeth or prongs 2 of the hooks from a log or timber. In the first case theoperator seizes the handles 11- with his hands and swings the hooks 1 open or from each other and then inward to set the points 2 in a log, and in the second case he may disengage the teeth or prongs 2 from a log by pressing laterally upon the bandles 11, or he may deliver blows on the latter with a mallet or. other suitable tool, the pivots in such case allowing the hooks to turn, so to speak, on their axes, so as to withdraw the points 2 from the log. The projections or handles 11 may also serve as automatic means for disengaging the hooksthat is to say, if the grapple be attached to a log and the latter thus suspended from a carriage traveling upon an overhead cable or rail upon reaching the point where it is desired to deliver the log the said projections 11 may come in contact with fixed pieces of a framework, and thus be turned laterally, so as to release the hooks in the manner before described. If the hooks 1 be out of normal position, when the operator seizes the handles 11 and turns the hooks so they face each other, as in Fig. 1, the detents 10 instantly engage and practically lock the hooks in normal position, which facilitates the opening and closing of the hooks, as required for engaging the log. Thus normally the detents serve to hold the hooks in the same plane with the jaws 5, or approxi-- mately so.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. The improved grapple, comprising jaws pivoted together and provided with notches in their inner sides, hooks having bent shanks which are pivoted in said notches, and springdetents engaging the said shanks and holding the hooks in normalposition, substantially as shown and described.

2. The improved grapple, comprising jaws pivoted together and provided with notches in their inner sides, hooks having bent shanks which are pivoted in said notches and pro- 'vided on their outer sides with shallow recesses, and springdetents comprising conical plugs adapted to engage such recesses and adapted also to slide in recesses in the jaws, and springs arranged in rear of said plugs, substantially as shown and described.

3. In a grapple, the combination, with two jaws pivoted together, of hooks having their shanks bent at a right angle and pivoted to the said jaws, substantially as shown and described. 4

4:. In a grapple, the combination, with jaws which are pivoted together, of hooks which are pivoted to said jaws, the pivotal axes of the jaws and hooks being approximately at a right angle to each other, substantially as shown and described.

5. In a grapple, the combination, with jaws pivoted fiatwise upon each other and provided below their pivots with recesses in their inner sides, of hooks having right-angular shanks adapted to fit loosely in said recesses, and pivots passing through the said shanks, substantially as shown and described.

6. The improved grapple, comprising jaws which are pivoted together, and hooks pivoted thereto and provided with lateral projections adapted to serve as handles or contactpieces, substantially as shown and described.

7. The combination, with the jaws pivoted together and provided with notches in their inner sides, of hooks having right-angular shanks adapted to fit and turn loosely in said notches, and pivoted therein and provided with lateral projections, and spring-detents adapted to lock the hooks in normal position, substantially as shown and described.

8. The combination, with jaws pivoted together, and provided with spring-detents, of hooks which are pivoted to said jaws and engaged by the detents, the hooks being provided with lateral projections subserving the purposes hereinbefore set forth.

9. The combination, with jaws pivoted together, of hooks which are pivoted to said jaws, and means for holding the hooks in normal position or facing each other, said means being arranged for operation to release the hooks to permit their adjustment to other positions, substantially as shown and described.

10. A grapple comprising a' pair of jaws pivoted together, and a pair of hooks pivoted to said jaws and arranged to swing laterally with respect to the plane of said jaws, substantially as set forth.

11. A grapple comprising a pair of jaws pivoted together between their ends, providing the upper and lower arms above and below the pivot, suspension devices connected with the upper arms of the jaws, and the hooks pivoted to the lower arms of the jaws at the inner edges of said arms, and swinging laterally with respect to the plane of the jaws, substantially as set forth.

TONY ALEXANDER.

Witnesses:

GEO. S. LAMBRIGHT, J r., R. W. MGNAIR. 

